Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1860 — Outrage at Lagrange, Missouri. [ARTICLE]

Outrage at Lagrange, Missouri.

[From the Quincy.(lll.) Whig, Feb. 25.

A German Citizen Hanged , Beaten and Robbed. ' \ esterefay, a respectable German citizen of LaGrange, Mo., Mr. Frederick Schuller, (a br■•tber-in-law of Mr. 1 . Dashbach, of this city.) wlto lias resided in LaGr.irige for s he I i»t twelve years, was brought to Quincy a victim to the horrors of a pro-slavery outrage—the recital of which is enough to make the blood of any man who has a soul bo:l within his Veins. We saw the bloody evidence v: the horrible treatment he hud undergone. heard the story of the affair given by hi.- . and could not help believing every v’H o! his statement. He is a respectubc r::<! intelligent man.and his plain and simp e account ot the dastardly outrage, v> we venture to say, i'.opJic'tly credited by the htmdri ds. of our c-kizeus who called at Mr. Dasbacli’s yesterday. Mr. Schaller has always voted the Democratic ticket, and we are assured by German citizens of Quincy, that in his visits to this city he ha.-? defended too institnti ut as i* existed in Missouri. That he ■,< innocent of the charge of assisting negroes to escape—as he insists—we have no doubt VVe trust that our fip Jn citiz . ns , e s-'| pec.ally those who have been m of ' °*‘ll* ,1,5 Dr-picernt h; ticket, will ponder well tliis flagitious outrage, and then determine whether they tan continue to v >. with a party vvh se cardinal principle is the spread and extension of that institution which s the ! parent of such damnable and brutal lawless- j ness.

STATEMENT O • MR. SCHALLER. I have been a resident of Missouri for twelve years, having resided a part of the I.m<- iii Palmyra.and part of the time in Li61'uno'. Li the latter place I have property. r i.ive never meddled with slaves or slavery, and have always been a Dei orr it. Lite hist fall, nr early in the winter, f heard that ten slaves had run off; i knew nothing about it til,' I heard ot it, and d>, not recollect ot ever ha. -in seen them. 1 coo'- 1 thi.-.‘-*for * not h.,v>; u'.Cei : ; n their escape. I ».-•!.• i’ la LitJrangc . . . uspc ‘>‘d me »f t > with-slaves, fill test Sunday. I day' to Canton i > i: ite some I .!•!.-> ;. party that was to take p uce k,-,t dry. Q>u my arrival tLp’re I -.vas waif'J y thn e persons, Jim Ring. Josh Owens .vi Bill Webster, who informed me of n.y bt'itf/ uiuc.' suspicion of :-having aided the : scape -i s!:-.'-esot Mr. Harris, and tv. uld u,. . - i viurn with tliem. At ur.- f to>>iy • >;.• io ter for a joke, but s■■ i un ' t.u< v were in earnest. On the nigh h- d; the slave run off, who was ei.ti .M , at ten o’clock, I ca-n prove by twelve u? .■:- on person-s f.i; ,t 1 was it. my houst fill .; .> -r o’clock, con sequentiy could not have it ted til * negro. I returned with the three, satisfied of ri, ' innocence, arid a.-ked ier a fair trial thily, as I easily could have proven my i.inogehee. I was taken to the LaGrange 110 so, and asked ; to be tried m xt. dv. (31am! ,v r ) uat was refused. Monday night ail armed posse of twenty-five or thirty men came, tied my brother William’s, Nob. Maltis’, (who h d ; been taken bufore my return from t aint.in.) and my hands, and put ns into a hack. 'l’wo others, Fratik Gerlaeh and u Mr. Holmes, .vent set free, bsii ordtrc-J to leave town. ; Our itanJ.i were tied and we were utiveii; about three rotes on the M mphi ‘ road, , where the hack stopped,nd J was taken otu. i To- my quest sol 1 to where they were taking ; me to, I got the answer that I was to be j hanged. 1 asked them what for, and received j an :'.s.-i--;ef that I should tell them all about j the n.tgiter'&t rapes, about V-ir d iorn, etc.

As I knew nothing about them, had never ! -.otr. or heard of Mr. Vcndoorn, l could not j give the answer tli -y wanted. They took me about a quarter of a mile into tin* woods and hang, d me. I caught the tree, but by I beating'ii:) . mbs with ,-ticks they competed | me 1 1 let go my hold. Smui I was aeneeless. ! Vfn:.*n I came to again, I felt two persons,; one on each side, whipping me witn whips, ■r cowhides. My hands were tied ab • mv head and 1 was entirely naked. ’l’ll. 1 night was very cold, and soon my back was covered with a. crust of frozen blood.' I be-; came weaker and when Bhoy untied me I ; fell on the ground. I heard one of them say", I >• Now you can go,you son of a bitch!” When j I put on my clothes again I round my money ; ($l2B in gold.) and ware): . As Icould j not stand, I crawled ns wen ~ possible, to j the Ih.iu.-c of mv lutiier-iu-i.iw where ir. j Nietneyer treated me. My brut! er whom they had released, told me that they must !:avc* abused mo lor more than an hour. I again say ’hat lam Sa itr-'.e nt ’he charge as a child, and have iw.vr i, escape of s.■' vets. The American (Muftis,) is id LxGrange, sick from a s,rr.i.ui treatment. Frederick Schallek. The above n irrstive seems too horrible to be possible. N -verlheless it is possible—v, zv nsidering -he present, criss, not only p-t . '.3 bat pcobaole. Such inhuman .scenes of b.gi.-leitided outrages,upon peaceable law -abiding citizens, are daily hot., tv.-n more numerous. We l an scarcely pi-, kup a !i«. w»j>". s * :::il ci *. a u. ccdu.hn of outrage's of a. i : 'ar character, 'i . wo. live at an inter-'.' .’ ig eei iud. A period v/!>«n .neiij on the mere s.'.spicion of p »s leasing t;c sentiments of a Washington or a Jeifersoji, are strung up by the necli and their nuked hodi:.-* lacerated by the hands of practical tl lgilators, to extort from them that which they knew not. A period when I mi : ier may be unblu.-hingly commit ted in | the name of “Democracy,” without fear of !of the penalty attaca d to the law; am: crime, ten-fold more horrible in its nature, needs but the dusky seal of “slavery ’ to in- ! sure its legality. Are there none to vhom J those victims of unwarranted suspicion mad unlawful punishment may look lor protection or redress! There are! But as well may they look into the -empty air” for “equal and < xact justice,” so long as Democracy holds the reins of government. Truly the scales have fallen over the eyes o' Justice, and well may it be said she is blind and will not see. Verily “Democracy” covers a multitude of evils.